At the behest of Gov. Bobby Jindal, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has been talking up White's credentials in calls to potential swing votes on the state board of education, which must elect a new state superintendent with at least eight of 11 votes. White is Jindal's pick to replace Paul Pastorek, who officially left the job last week with about seven months left in his term, At Jindal's suggestion, White would see out those remaining months while also serving in his current role as head of the Recovery School District, which oversees a majority of schools here.

Duncan has contacted at least two members of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education: Louella Givens, who represents New Orleans, and Linda Johnson of Plaquemine.

"Secretary Duncan has good things to say about John White," Jindal spokesman Kyle Plotkin said in an email message. "He offered to help and we asked him to let BESE members know."

Duncan has known White since about 2004, when White arrived in Chicago to lead Teach for America's regional office there. Duncan was CEO of Chicago public schools at the time.

Speaking about White at an appearance in New Orleans last month, Duncan said, "He's passionate, he's committed, he understands the magnitude of the job here."

For his part, White has said he is open to helping the state through the leadership transition if the board asks him.

It's not clear at all, though, if Duncan's lobbying will get White any closer to the needed vote count. Duncan, after all, is a proponent of the types of education reforms that White has pushed during his career as a Teach for America executive and school official in New York City. Like Pastorek, who left the state superintendent post for a job in the private sector, they have advocated giving parents a choice about which public school their children attend and sought to hold teachers and principals more accountable through high-stakes testing.

But a wing of the state education board -- usually in the minority, but enough members to block White's appointment -- has been skeptical of Pastorek's efforts. And they see more of the same in White.

Jim Garvey, a BESE member who has supported Pastorek, said Duncan has not called him. But he doesn't see great chances for Duncan's effort. "If I were a betting man, I'd bet against it," Garvey said.

Garvey himself has put four other candidates up for discussion, though he would not reveal their names publicly.

Dale Bayard, the only BESE member who voted against White's appointment to be superintendent of the Recovery School District last month, said Duncan hasn't called him either. Bayard has already said that he would vote against White in favor of someone with more years experience as a teacher and principal.

The two board members Duncan has reached out to, Givens and Johnson, both abstained from the vote on White's appointment to the RSD, along with Keith Guice of Monroe.

Board President Penny Dastugue initially hoped to hold a board vote on an interim state superintendent this week, but said there isn't enough of a consensus on the pick yet. While Dastugue has not endorsed anyone for the position, she has said White would be a strong candidate.

Whatever the outcome of discussions going on now between board members, the new superintendent will only serve for the rest of this year before facing another vote. Eight of BESE's members will have to run for reelection this fall. And when a new board is seated in January, members will have to decide whether to keep the interim leader or select someone new.

For his part, White has said he is open to helping the state through the leadership transition if the board asks him.